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Lily Tuck is one of the five National Book Awards finalists -- each of them women, each of them writing in New York City. Tuck led the life of a very obscure novelist until she was nominated for Letters from Paraguay. Tuck tells Martha Woodroof about her account of two lovers tangled in a mid-19th century war that wiped out 90 percent of Paraguay's male population.

WAMC's Dr. Alan Chartock discusses a report that the accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trump’s annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump’s image as a wealthy businessman, “should no longer be relied upon” and more.

Director Ridley Scott has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for his film Black Hawk Down. The film, based on the best-selling book written by Mark Bowden, is an account of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, in which 19 U.S. solders and some 1,000 Somalis were killed. Scott also received a nomination for best director last year, for his film Gladiator, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Scott's other films include Hannibal, Thelma and Louise, Blade Runner and Alien.

A staff report from the Sept. 11 commission says the Pentagon's air-defense command wasted precious time and missed a chance to intercept at least one of the hijacked planes used in the 2001 attacks. The report largely blames inadequate emergency procedures that didn't account for a response to suicide hijackings. Hear NPR's Mary Louise Kelly and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Dellinger, a long-time peace activist, editor and author, died on Tuesday at the age of 88. Dellinger was jailed for civil disobedience a generation before Daniel and Philip Berrigan. He was part of the "Chicago Seven," the group of seven anti-war demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The convention erupted into violence between demonstrators and police. Dellinger was the author of several books, including an account of his spiritual journey From Yale to Jail. (Rebroadcast from April 9, 1993.)

Among his other mandates, Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr is investigating the firings of the White House Travel Office staff, which occurred early in the Clinton Administration. Starr received that assignment through an unusual chain of events: the General Accounting Office has referred Clinton aide David Watkins to the Jusitce Department for a criminal investigation becuase Watkins allegedly had lied to GAO investigators. The GAO made that referral after encouragement from republican Congressman William Clinger of Pennsylvania, who chairs the committee investigating the Travel Office affair. NPR's Jon Greenberg reports.

Jacki Lyden talks with former Chicago Tribune staff writer Sonsyrea Tate (SAHN-sur-ray). Tate is author "Little X: Growing up in the Nation of Islam" (Harper Collins San Francisco). It's a multigenerational account of her family's life in the Nation of Islam. A Washington DC native, Tate's grandparents joined the Nation of Islam in the 1950s. She notes the good and bad sides of her experiences before leaving the Nation of Islam as an adult and studying Orthodox Islam.

Political commentator David Frum. From January 2001 to February 2002 he was a special assistant to President Bush for economic speech-writing. He held the position during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and he's the man who put the axis in the oft-repeated Bush term "axis of evil." Frum is the author of the new book, The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush, an inside account of the White House.

Personal accounts and reflections of individuals affected by the Iraq war. Mandy Terc is a master's student in Middle Eastern studies at Harvard. The 25-year-old Chicago native is in Beirut taking Arabic classes and working on an oral history project about Palestinian refugees. This week, Terc attended a candlelight vigil in downtown Beirut. She was with a few of her American friends, each holding a sign with a message protesting the war in Iraq. Her sign read "Americans Say Regime Change Starts At Home."

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is probing the alleged unprovoked killings of 24 civilians last November by U.S. Marines in the insurgent hotbed of Haditha, Iraq. According to news accounts, the killings were in retaliation for the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, Jr.